RESIDENTS are being asked to make dedicate a light to a loved one as part of an annual ceremony at Wigan and Leigh Hospice.

Every year thousands of people from the borough remember their loved ones or give thanks by making a Light for a Life dedication in return for a donation to the HIndley hospice.

Angela Andrew, from Astley, has attended almost every Light for a Life ceremony since her dad Stanley Parsons passed away aged 59 in October 2002 after spending ten days being cared for at the hospice.

“I always make a dedication in memory of my dad, I can’t buy him a Christmas present anymore so I make a donation and it’s my way of supporting the hospice for the care that my family received,” said the 41-year-old.

Since October 1 people have been able to dedicate a light for a loved one on the hospice’s Christmas tree which is lit at a public ceremony at the hospice on Kildare Street at 6.30pm on December 2.

The names are also entered into a Book of Dedications which is printed into a bound book as a permanent tribute.

Jean Blamires, from Leigh, has been making a dedication at the hospice for ten years in memory of her husband Harry, who died in April 2004.

She said: “Harry had been to the hospice for medication and for massage therapy and the staff couldn’t do enough for him.

“Since then I’ve always bought Christmas cards from the hospice and make a Light for a Life dedication every year. I don’t know what a lot of people would do without the Hospice.”

To make a dedication, visit wlh.org.uk or pick up a form from Wigan and Leigh Hospice shops.